PennDOT throws its weight around

Finding a route through the Poconos could soon be more difficult for companies moving heavy supplies and equipment.

JENNA EBERSOLE

Finding a route through the Poconos could soon be more difficult for companies moving heavy supplies and equipment.

Deteriorating bridges in Pennsylvania — including close to 60 in Monroe and Pike counties — could face more weight restrictions next year depending on the fate of a transportation bill pending in the state Legislature.

State senators approved a version of the bill last week, with $2.5 billion in funding, up from the governor's $1.8 billion initial proposal.

Without the measure, 51 bridges in Monroe County and seven in Pike are on a list for additional weight restrictions, out of more than 550 across the two counties, according to PennDOT data.

In Monroe County, the list includes the bridges that span the Appenzell Creek at Camp Akiba and Smith Hill roads, Pocono Creek at Bartonsville Avenue off Route 611 and Tobyhanna Creek at Main Street in Tobyhanna.

In Pike, the seven bridges include crossings at the Delaware River and Shohola Creek.

Some of the bridges already have posted restrictions, many in the range of 10 to 30 tons, which could be reduced further.

For construction and contracting companies, more restrictions would make doing business more costly.

The H&K Group, which operates throughout eastern Pennsylvania, is pushing for passage of the bill.

Spokesman Tony Jeremias said it is critical to operations company-wide and at local Poconos-area affiliate Locust Ridge Contractors.

Any weight restrictions would complicate routing trucks through the area.

"The bridge issue's huge for us with detours and logistics and all that getting around," he said. "It impacts us tremendously."

When bidding jobs, the company must take routes into account, with costs heavily affected by more weight restrictions.

Jeremias said many of the bridges both locally and throughout the eastern part of the state are highly trafficked.

Francis Martin, who operates his own landscaping and excavating company based in Stroudsburg, avoids bridges with 12-ton weight restrictions.

His dump truck hauls 10 tons and likely reaches the 12- or 13-ton mark with a load.

If the goal is stimulating the economy, he said, legislators should also consider the impact of generating jobs.

"These jobs are nice. They're big, they take a lot of materials," he said. "They're just good, solid projects to stimulate the economy."

But funding for the bill has drawn some concern as well.

Both the Senate bill and Gov. Tom Corbett's proposal included the elimination of the Oil Company Franchise Tax over a period of several years.

Analysis of how that could play out for customers at the pump has varied.

In a 2011 Transportation Funding Advisory Commission Report for the governor, the impact on the average driver by the final year was about $100 in higher cost, if companies passed the entire increase on to customers.

Jamie Legenos at the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation countered that the actual effect on gas prices is difficult to pinpoint.

"As we cannot predict the price of gas even tomorrow, we wouldn't speculate on what the effect would be if any of the plans were passed," she said.

Jeremias said higher prices and other fees would still be worth it in the long run for the company.

"We would definitely rather see the bill go through and take our lumps on the other things for sure," he said.